Stitching of fastener members to tape and the like



W. SIMPSON Oct. 31, 1961 STITCHING OF FASTENER MEMBERS To TAPE AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 29, v 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 31, 1961 V w, P N 3,006,294

STITCHING OF FASTENER MEMBERS TO TAPE AND THE LIKE Filed Dec. 29, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,006,294 STITCHING 0F FASTENER MEMBERS T0 TAPE AND THE LIKE William Simpson, Birmingham, England, assignor to Newey Brothers Limited, Birmingham, England, a

British company Filed Dec. 29, 1959, Ser. No. 862,589 Claims priority, application Great Britain Jan. 2, 1959 Claims. (Cl. 1122) This invention relates to improvements in the stitching of hooks, eyes or other fastening members to tape or the like.

Hook or eye tape which is used as a garment fastening is usually formed by inserting the hooks or eyes at regularly spaced intervals between overlapping edges of a folded strip of fabric and securing them in position by one or more lines of stitching of which at least one intersects the line of hooks or eyes.

In the stitching operation it is essential that the needle of the sewing machine should not strike the wire of a hook or eye as it descends, and various methods of avoiding this have been proposed.

One known method is to provide an oscillating finger operating just in advance of the needle and adapted to displace the wire forwardly or rearwardly if it lies in the path of the descending needle.

Another method applied to a sewing machine of the needle feed type having a spring-loaded needle bar rocker frame is to provide a tracer moving over the surface of the tape or the like just in advance of the needle and adapted on striking a wire to actuate means preventing the full normal rocking movement of the needle bar rocking frame so that the needle passes to one side of the wire.

According to my invention, in a sewing machine for stitching hooks or eyes or the like to tape or other fabric, a needle is held in a block pivotally mounted on the normal needle bar for angular movement about an axis at right angles to the line of feed and the block is normally held in one limiting position against spring loading by the engagement of a portion of the block or of a part carried by it with a substantially vertical cam on a member pivoting about a stationary axis and carrying a feeler of which the free end is just in advance of the needle and lies closely adjacent to the surface of the tape or other fabric.

When there is no wire in the path of the descending needle, the needle is held in its normal position by the cam, but if the feeler engages a wire it is raised and displaces the cam so that the spring loading of the block carrying the needle moves the block angularly from its normal position and the needle passes to the front or rear of the wire.

One important advantage of our improved construction is that it is only the needle itself and the small block by which it is carried that have to move from their normal position and the inertia of these parts is so small that there is no appreciable risk of the needle failing to be displaced and striking a wire in a machine operating at very high speed.

Our improved device is preferably formed as an attachment which can be fitted to existing machines, and it can be fitted to single needle machines in which the needle bar has a straight reciprocating movement or to twin needle machines in which the needles are carried by a needle bar rocker frame and work in conjunction with a feed dog for feeding the material through the machine.

One practical embodiment of our invention as applied to a two-needle machine is illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the attachment,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the attachment with the needles in their lowermost position,

FIGURE 3 is a front elevation of the attachment with the needles in their lowermost position and no wire in the path of the front needle,

FIGURE 4 is a front elevation with the needles raised and a wire in the path of the front needle.

FIGURE 5 is a rear elevation of the needle clamp assembly on the line 55 of FIGURE 3,

FIGURE 6 is a section of the needle clamp assembly on the line 66 of FIGURE 5,

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the component parts of the needle clamp assembly separated.

The attachment illustrated is designed for fitting to a standard two needle sewing machine for the stitching of hooks, eyes, or other fastening members to tape or the like.

The rear needle 11 forms a line of stitching spaced laterally from the hooks or eyes while the front needle 11 produces a line of stitching intersecting the hooks or eyes.

The rear needle 16 is held in a needle clamp 12 having a pin secured within a rod 13 which reciprocates in a rocker frame in the usual way. The front needle 11 is held in a similar clamp or block 14 which is angularly movable about a horizontal axis on the clamp 12 at right angles to the direction of feed of the machine. The pivot is formed by a hardened screw 15 passing through a bore 16 in the block 14 and screwed into the clamp 12, the screw having a plain cylindrical portion 17 on which the block is adapted to rock. The block is resiliently urged in one direction about its pivot by a blade spring 18 held between the rod 13 and the needle clamp 12 and bearing on the upper face of the block 14 in front of its pivot. The extent of the angular movement of the block 14 relative to the needle clamp 12 is defined by an adjustable stopcomprising an eccentric head 19 on a screw 21 passing through the needle clamp parallel to the pivot screw, the head 19 being received in a recess 20 in the adjacent face of the block 14. The outer end of the screw 21 projects from the rear face of the needle clamp and is fitted with a lock nut 22.

A screw 23 fixed in the face of the block 14 remote from the needle clamp carries a roller 24 co-operating with a substantially vertical edge cam 25.

The cam 25 is adjustably fixed by means of a screw 26 on an L-shaped plate 27 adapted to pivot on a horizontal axis formed by a pin 28 which is fixed in the plate and is rotatable in a bearing in the lower end of a bar 29 which is rigidly secured to a bracket 30 adapted to be clamped on a sleeve through which passes the presser foot bar of the machine.

A substantially horizontal member 31 adjustably clamped to the pin 28 so that it moves with the plate 27 has adjustably mounted in its free end by means of a screw 32 passing through a slot 33 in the member, a feeler 34 which is held in light contact with the tape or other work going through the machine by a light spring 35 connected between the plate and an anchorage on the bracket 31). The feeler has an inclined nose 36 which engages the work just in front of the needle 11.

As the needles descend the roller 24 engages and rides down the cam 25 of which the position relative to the block 14 is such that, normally, when there is no wire of a hook, eye or the like in the path of the front needle 11, the block 14 is maintained in such an angular position that the two needles are parallel as shown in FIG- URE 3.

If there is a wire 37 in the path of the needle 11, it

engages the inclined nose 36 of the feeler 34 which is raised as shown in FIGURE 4 and rocks over the plate 27 carrying the cam 25 so that the cam is displaced relative to the roller 24 and the spring 18 rocks the block 14 about its pivot to bring the needle 11 into the inclined position shown in FIGURE 4 in which it misses the Wire as it descends.

The angular movement of the block 14 and needle 11 has been exaggerated in FIGURE 4 for the purpose of illustration, and it need only be sufiicicnt to allow the needle to clear the wire as it descends, the extent of the movement being controlled by the adjustable stop described above.

The operation of the device is not afiected by the thickness of the wire, and if the length of the stitch made by the machine is altered, the angular movement of the needle can be readily adjusted to suit.

Another important advantage of our improved attachment is that it is not necessary for the hooks or eyes to be visible and accessible on the upper surface of the fabric. The feeler will operate effectively through a layer of fabric, and the attachment can be used for blind stitching of hooks or eyes or the like between two layers of material.

The only parts of the attachment liable to wear are the roller 24 and cam 25 and these can be renewed very easily when worn.

I claim:

1. An attachment for a sewing machine for securing a line of fastening members to fabric with at least one line of stitching intersecting the line of fastening members and having a vertically reciprocating needle bar, comprising a needle-holding block mounted on the needle bar for angular movement about an axis at right angles to the line of feed of the fabric, spring means urging the block angularly in one direction, a member angularly movable about a stationary axis, a cam on said member adapted to be engaged by a portion of said block, as the needle bar descends for holding said block in a limiting position against the action of the spring means, and a feeler on said member lying just in advance of the path of the descending needle and closely adjacent to the surface of the fabric, whereby the engagement of the feeler with a part of a fastening element which would be in the path of the descending needle moves said member angularly and displaces said cam into a position such that as the needle descends the spring means move the block angularly and the needle is deflected clear of the fastener element.

2. An attachment as in claim 1 wherein said portion of the needle-holding block which engages with the cam comprises a roller rotatably mounted on a screw fixed in the block.

3. An attachment as in claim 1 wherein an adjustable stop is incorporated to limit the angular movement of the needle-holding block by the spring means.

4. An attachment as in claim 1 in which said angularly movable member carrying the cam and feeler is loaded by a light spring which urges the feeler into engagement with the fabric.

5. An attachment as in claim 1 wherein said needle holding block is pivotally mounted on a needle clamp in which a second needle is held and which is carried by a rod reciprocating in a rocking frame, said block being urged angularly in one direction by a blade spring mounted on the needle clamp.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,915,580 Rabinowitz June 27, 1933 2,339,887 Simpson Jan. 25, 1944 2,872,884 Peck Feb. 10, 1959 FOREIGN PATENTS 133,859 Australia Aug. 15, 1949 

